tardiness
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of tardiness
Explanation
Tardiness is the quality of being late. When people don't show up on time, they're guilty of tardiness. When you're late for something, you're tardy, so tardiness refers to the habit of being late. Because of their tardiness, some people almost never arrive at work, school, or other places when they're expected. Tardiness is very annoying for the people waiting for the tardy person, and too much tardiness at work could get you fired. Tardiness comes from the Latin word tardus, "slow, sluggish, dull, or stupid."
Vocabulary lists containing tardiness
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 4
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The Losers Club
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Homeless Bird
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She was late so often for school that administrators said she might have to repeat some classes and asked for a doctor’s note to explain the tardiness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025
Others riffed on her well-known history of tardiness.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 8, 2025
In a lawsuit filed in New York, they claimed her tardiness impacted their sleep and their ability to "get up early to go to work" the next day.
From BBC • Dec. 20, 2024
The judge appeared to be stunned — not by Mr. Harris’s casual tardiness, but rather by the irony of his actions given the charge Mr. Harris was facing.
From New York Times • May 29, 2024
She knew how tardiness drove me nuts—how I saw it as nothing but hubris.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
